Hair Raising Breakthrough

It's a myth that once you lose your hair you can't get it back. Hair transplantation can replenish receding hair lines using the patient's own hair — leaving a natural, full look. But even doctors admit it's a difficult procedure. Now, Robyn Haines shows us how hair transplantation just got easier. Doctor Alan Bauman, a board-certified hair restoration physician with the Bauman Medical Group in Boca Raton, Florida has a solution. Follicular unit extraction, or FUE, is the least invasive transplant option available. It harvests hair follicles from the back of the scalp and re-implants them up front. It works well, but it's a long, difficult process. Doctor Bauman now uses a new device, called the Neograft, to make FUE easier. It uses slight rotation to loosen follicles, then acts as a punch with suction to quickly remove them. In traditional FUE, it may take six hours to harvest 800 follicles. The Neograft can get up to 1,600 follicles in one day. Doctor Bauman says fewer than 10 physicians across the country are using the Neograft, adding that up to half of his patients are from out of town. The procedure ranges in cost from 10 to 20 thousand dollars, but once the hair is transplanted, it's there for good. Another benefit is there's no linear scar, so patients can have short haircuts.